Heupel’s next task at Tennessee? Perform an exorcism
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee football will invite a bevy of demons, curses, spooks and jinxes into Knoxville this weekend.
Schedule the exorcism. Inbound is the rival that defeated Tennessee in 16 of the past 17 meetings.
And, oh look, here comes “College GameDay.” The Vols are 3-6 all time when ESPN’s flagship Saturday morning show airs from Knoxville.
Ah, but those games were before Josh Heupel’s warp-speed offense came to town and brightened Tennessee’s outlook.
So, heck, why not go all-in and checker the stadium?
The Vols are 1-4 when fans create the orange-and-white mosaic throughout the stadium by wearing their assigned apparel color. Among the checker Neyland horrors: One of the worst losses in program history, 41-0 to Georgia, in 2017. Oh, but that shutout came under coach Butch Jones, and who wants to think about Butch? He’s Arkansas State’s problem now.
To the extent a program can expunge a decade and a half of disappointments in a single day, Heupel’s 12th-ranked Vols (3-0) will have the chance to do so when they host No. 22 Florida (2-1) on Saturday (3:30 ET, CBS).
No pressure, right?
Just cast out the demons in a blur of offense in front of what promises to be a raucous scene at Neyland Stadium. (Hide the mustard.)
“When we run out of that T, there won’t be a better atmosphere in college football,” Heupel said.
Tennessee fans eyed this game for months.
Despite getting whupped by Florida last year, the Vols finished the season on the upswing, while the Gators went into a tailspin that resulted in a coaching change.
Finally, the Vols possess the better team, offering an opportunity for atonement against the rival that’s tortured Tennessee since the 1990s.
Tennessee has the better quarterback, better wide receivers, a settled-in coach, and a fan base that hasn’t been this revved up since the first month of the 2016 season – which happens to be the only year Tennessee beat Florida amid this nearly two-decades stretch of Gator dominance.
Even the sportsbooks peg the Vols as having a decided advantage. Tennessee opened Sunday as a 10-point favorite. The last time Tennessee was favored in this rivalry? 2016.
The Vols shouldn’t need a Hail Mary – either uttered or thrown – to beat a team that barely escaped lowly South Florida in the Swamp last weekend.
Oh, but it’s rarely that simple against Florida.
Tennessee was the betting favorite in 2015. And lost.
And in 2014. And lost.
And in 2012. And lost.
And in 2002. And got clobbered. Florida doesn’t needed Tim Tebow to beat Tennessee, either, although he did so three straight years as a starter.
Feleipe Franks, Jeff Driskel, Tyler Murphy and John Brantley are among the quarterbacks who guided Florida past Tennessee. You won’t find a bronze likeness of any of those guys among the statues outside Ben Hill Griffin Stadium honoring Heisman winners Steve Spurrier, Danny Wuerffel and Tebow.
Jacob Warren knows the history. He’s lived it.
Tennessee’s fifth-year senior tight end is a hometown product who has yet to taste a victory against Florida. In fact, no player on Tennessee’s roster was playing college football the last time the Vols beat the Gators.
“Florida is up there (in terms of rivals),” Warren said. “There’s a lot of games you can win and people not say much about, but this game and the games against other SEC competition are going to be the ones that people care about and the ones that people talk about the most.
“It’s a big game, just because of the history and how it’s gone the past few years here. We want to turn that around and get this place where it should be.”
For Tennessee to ascend to the place of which Warren speaks, it must first expel some demons.
Heupel’s great cleansing of Tennessee football nears a cathartic crescendo.